Could Another Terminator Film Heal All Those Hurt Feelings?

From the franchise no one wanted any more to the unexpected hot property on the block: Could The Terminator be heading for a reboot?

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, a smaller studio, Lionsgate, was the leading bidder for the Terminator rights, until a slew of bidders jumped into the auction, all jockeying to take control of one of Hollywood’s most popular names.

I wonder, though, if any of them have really thought through where they would take Terminator next. The last film was awful – and to read about that scrapped, far more fulfilling alternate ending, where the machines pulled out a checkmate against John Connor and his fellow humans, only makes me more upset about the clumsy, chipper way that Salvation wrapped everything up.

Is there any way at all one could take McG’s bloated ending and move the franchise forward? And would the most devout fans even turn out? I’m thinking not. They would have to go back and rework this thing from scratch, pulling a Batman Begins or Casino Royale. Which I actually think they could do – rethinking Terminator into something a little less focused on special effects, a little more focused on a civilization out of balance, utterly reliant on machines. The payoff would be the societal suspense. Think more Blade Runner. (More at Techland: The 10 Best Spaceships of All Time)

Then again, there’s always the consideration of budgets. Lionsgate is not exactly ready to pony up and pay for something on the scale of Terminator 2. So what exactly are the Lionsgate execs thinking? What would they do with this, if they got it?

I know some will say that Terminator should be left alone, allowed to fade away with some level of dignity, but personally, I’d pay another $10 if a studio could offer me anything to wash the Salvation aftertaste out of my mouth. If only they had already invented that mind-erasure device, I could just pretend none of it had ever happened.

What are your thoughts? Another go at Terminator? If they start from scratch, where should they go?